Global theme park attendance rose 5 percent last year, with exceptionally strong performance across Asia, poised to overtake North American attendance in the not-so-distant future, predicts an industry-wide report.

Global theme park attendance rose 5 percent last year, with exceptionally strong performance across Asia, poised to overtake North American attendance in the not-so-distant future, predicts an industry-wide report.

According to the 2012 Theme Index, produced by the Themed Entertainment Association in California, Asia is on track to becoming the theme park center of the world, with unabated growth and the expected opening of the largest theme park development in China to date.

Shanghai Disney is slated to open in 2015 and is expected to receive a whopping 10 million visitors in its first year.

Analysts credit growth in Asia to the fact that theme parks are built to appeal to a broad spectrum of visitors by rolling casinos, retail, cultural facilities and attractions into a single “integrated resort."